China to invest in Iran’s petrochemical project

China to invest for manufacturing a petrochemical plant near Kharvana city located in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

A Chinese investor will invest $1.3 million in the joint project, Reza Hosseini, director general of the Economic Affairs and Finance Office of East Azerbaijan Province, said.

The local media quoted Hosseini as saying that the Chinese side will provide 85 percent of the projects’s investment, meanwhile Kharvana Petropalayesh Company, the project’s Iranian partner, will undertake 15 percent of the investment.

Once up and running, the plant will be capable of producing 520,000 tons of polypropylene per year, the official said.

Polypropylene is the world's second-most widely produced synthetic plastic, after polyethylene.

It is a thermoplastic polymer used in packaging and labeling, textiles, carpets, stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes.

Iranian petrochemical companies produced 521,200 tons of polypropylene during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (started March 2017), 6.2 percent more year-on-year.

The Kharvana plant will be established in a 400 hectars area, he said, adding that annually 15 million cubic meters of water should be supplied for the plant.

The project will also need infrastructures for supplying 60 megawatts hour of electricity as well as 5 million cubic meters of natural gas, he added.

The project once completed will generate 1,500 jobs, he said.

Iranian polymer output is expected to reach 12 million tons by 2022, based on the country’s 6th five-year development plan.

The Islamic Republic’s annual polymer production capacity currently stands at 7.4 million tons.

The latest data released by the Iranian Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade reveals that over 3.836 million tons of various polymers were produced in the country during the first seven months of the current fiscal year.